Development towards the new millenium in theory-practice synergy in second language teaching/learning research

During the last three decades of the millennium, second language researchers and practitioners have witnessed a series of evolutions and revolutions which have changed the face of L2 pedagogy and curriculum. These include (i) a relatively rapid convergence, in the curriculum thrust of L2 teaching, of educational-cultural values with the utilitarian demands of communicative competence (ii) moves for greater scientific underpinning of pedagogical theory and practice (iii) development of interest in both “theory of practice” and practice of theory” in L2 teaching, with a concomitant general strengthening and broadening of theory-practice relationships in research and teaching (iv) a growing attention to the instrumental value of technological advances, particularly IT and multimedia, in providing linguistically and neurolinguistically supported possibilities of sequence and synthesis in learning programmes (Barron & Orwig, 1995) and the vital conjunction of time, space, materials, climate and occasions defined by Edwards, Pope and Springate (1995) as the prerequisite for creative production. This paper first illustrates the evolution towards an increasingly high profile acknowledgment of the relevance of the theory-practice link in L2 pedagogy traversing the range of Boyer (1990) four forms of scholarship (discovery, integration, application, teaching). It then addresses the opportunities for identifying potent research questions and strengthening the theory-practice links in the coming decade, particularly in the light of the sophistication of technological support capable of responding to emerging scientific underpinnings of best teaching and learning theory and practice. Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.